From Dust to Silence

From Dust is one of the summer games I am most looking forward to with Rock of Ages and Trackmania 2 following in chronological order. From Dust is a multi-platform game that advances the god game genre to heights of new beauty. The creator, Eric Chahi of Another World and Heart of Darkness fame, says that From Dust is most like a spiritual successor to Populous. It is one of the most beautiful games I have seen in a long time – both technically and aesthetically. And, with less than two weeks to launch, the publisher Ubisoft is unfortunately ensuring that it will remain a sleeper.

Astute readers might have already picked up that whereas we normally link games to their official site, the Wikipedia, or other Tap articles, I linked From Dust to a 150-word PC Gamer article. Amazingly enough this small article absolutely blows away anything else I have seen in terms of official information. It has a video portraying gameplay to a small degree. It has the release date. It has the price. And, it has the link to the official site. This article is banging!

Let’s Google “from dust game.” Okay, nothing official pops up. The Wikipedia article is my first hit, which has an “official link” to fromdustgame.com. Amazingly, that official link did not show up in my Google searches. That link leads to a boring Ubisoft game info site. But, we get another “official site” link to… Facebook. Seriously. Seriously?

The PC Gamer article actually has the official, official site link, which I couldn’t easily find through simple searches. It’s a pretty site with videos, some sort of half-tried blog, and a small handful of very pretty concept art. No pricing and no release date, though. It seems that the official, official site is still in “we have this game in development”-mode instead of “We Are Freakin’ Releasing Imminently!” So basically, Ubisoft needs to thank PC Gamer (and likely many other news sites) for doing their job.

As a gamer, I don’t ask for much. Gameplay style, pricing, and release are about what I want to know when I get interested in a game and the rest is fluff. Check out my favorite unreleased game’s FAQ yet for a mostly unknown PvP MMO coming out this year. Gameplay, pricing, and intended release are all fielded to some degree. Plus there is a serious lack of any marketing “polish.” It’s raw… refreshingly so.

I know that as a sandbox game From Dust starts at possible sleeper hit status and has to work it’s way up from there. I think that for a $20 game in a genre that sorely gets little, From Dust is already starting at a great place. Add the simplistic beauty, muted storytelling, and dynamic gameplay and I think it’s well on its way to being a hit. I hope other gamers can find it though.

About the author

Zach "Ravious" Best

Somewhere among the cowherds of the American Mid-West, Zach “Ravious” Best defends the U.S. Constitution and tries not to be raised by his wife and two girls. He is a gamer at heart playing everything from Hearts to UNO to Carcassonne to Team Fortress 2 to Guild Wars, and he loves to write about his passion.
Zach started gaming with the NES by deforming his thumb for the combo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He stayed fit by bike riding through miles of city streets to get to that one 7-11 with the fighting games where the weekly allowance purge would occur. In the current video game age, He is mostly a PC gamer with his time being spent in the more social games like MMOs, online racing, and online first-person shooters. Zach also writes under the moniker of “Ravious” at the MMO blog, Kill Ten Rats.

I’m hoping this will live up to the potential it obviously has. This is a genre that sees few games (has anything similar really come out since Black & White?), and it’s high time someone goes at it again.

Gregg B07/16/2011

I’m really excited about this, if only because Eric Chahi is behind it and it bears a striking resemblance to Populous and Black & White. It’s very worrying though that Google isn’t turning out any useful search results this close to release. And I’d totally forgotten about ACE Team’s Rock of Ages. Nice one Zach.

Gregg B07/16/2011

Just watched the trailer and Holy Crapsticles. That looks incredible.

Max "xtal" Boone07/16/2011

Are any of you guys who are really looking forward to this (like me!) a bit nervous at the … I can’t find the word for it. You see the trailer and it’s just … I don’t know, I don’t think it will be as simple as Black & White meets Spore meets The Sims meets The Incredible Machine meets Lemmings … but part of me can’t help but think that it may.

I loved Black & White for about 30 minutes … after that it was pointless repetition. Has the “god” genre ever been done well?

I share your misgivings, xtal. Sandboxy games have always struggled to hold my interest at the best of times. But because the entire concept behind the “god” genre seems like something that really could be done awesomely, even if it hasn’t been before, I remain cautiously optimistic.

Amit07/18/2011

It’s been a while since I am exited for a relatively ‘fresh’ pc title…..and this seems like it has everything going for it…..and yet a mere weeks to launch and absolutely no real info from the studio….I have a gut feeling that this will be something similar to the release of the original FarCry…..scant info about the title until it’s literally staring in your face and then people appreciating the game for what it bring’s to the table….keeping my fingers crossed…..the videos are so sumptious……it’s strange that the marketing is handled this way.

Rock Paper Shotgun put up a first impressions. Seems like it’s more of a puzzle game than Populous. The reviewer had not got to the sandbox map yet though. Still for $15 sounds like a nice summer distraction.

It is a puzzle game, a very beautiful one that’s really excellent. While it would benefit from mouse controls (PC version coming Aug 17), you’ll get your money’s worth on Xbox.

It’s related to Populous only in the sense that you raise and lower land. Aesthetically and strategically, it has much more in common with Black & White, but with simpler objectives, less sucking, etc.

Toger07/28/2011

That second world almost sucked the life outta me. Timed events are not my friend! If I’d had a mouse, I don’t think I’d have had as much of a problem, but the water was seriously winning and then I couldn’t stop laughing when my little man kept drowning! I am not a kind and forgiving goddess. 😀

The one that nearly killed me was the springs-everywhere land. THAT took some careful planning!

Amit07/29/2011

PC version pushed back to Aug 17th…….Damn another month till I get my hands on this one.
Was really looking forward to this weekend..
It’s been a while since I was really this exited for a PC title.
Just curious….is there a random map generator included?

There is not, Amit, though there are many unlockable “challenge” levels. I’m about halfway through the game and think it’s totally worth $14.99.

I do, however, hope that Chahi’s team releases lots of DLC. This is a fairly simple game (which I don’t mean as a disservice), so making and releasing more levels for a minimal price should be part of their strategy. As should a map editor.

Amit07/30/2011

The youtube videos are looking seriously amazing….especially the tsunami one.
I do hope they dont keep pushing back any more from the Aug release date….
Hoping that Ubi makes enough money in the 3 weeks ‘exclusive’ time period to offset ANY piracy related issues on PC.
For only $15 this really seems like a no brainer.

Mat C07/30/2011

This looks pretty interesting. At £11.99 it’s within impulse buy territory as well.

It’s fascinating, and very beautiful. It’s not a complex game, and it’s not a “god game” in the traditional sense – more of a puzzle game – but for the money I think it’s well worth it. This is Eric Chahi at his best.

Toger07/30/2011

My first go at the springs everywhere level ended in disaster… pretty and verdant, but disastrous as I’d opened far too many springs by the time I’d gotten to the totem surrounded by the prickly trees. My dreams last night were filled with ideas how to re-do that level.

The level before – the lava – was lots of fun! I re-routed the stream coming down the volcano. Alas, my first village kept getting burned as the volcano rebuilt its boundaries. Too bad I couldn’t re-route the lava flows.